Photography doesn’t mean anything… It means EVERYTHING.

I suppose that from the time I first picked up a camera I knew the journey I was embarking on was clearly special.  I didn’t quite realize then how special. Anyone that values life can tell you its fleeting. Your children grow, time doesn’t stand still for anyone. And yet we go about our day, day in and day out, as if we have all the time in the world. What we don’t realize is that in a blink of the eye it could be gone. Gone forever. It could be gone due to some tragic circumstance, a grandchild moving miles a way or even just time itself doing what nature intended  it to do. Go on. And when we look back upon our own little ones we no longer see that sweet 3 year old cherub face but that of a beautiful budding young woman of 10 or 11 ready to move on into puberty or in the place of that curious five year old little boy bursting with energy and imagination. a 17 year old young man ready to graduate high school and grow wings of their own.

We have so many important people in our lives. If you are a mother or a father it is most likely your children. If you are childless it may be a friend, a relative or a sibling. There are so many times I think back on my childhood, my high school years. The people I was so incredibly sure would always be there have long since moved on with their lives or lost contact. They are now out in the world living their own day to day routines with their own very special loved ones. Some much worse will never have the opportunity to reconcile friendships years down the road as they have moved on to a much different place. Sadly some have gone and passed on.

I get asked all the time where I find my inspiration in my work. I am mostly inspired by emotion and people. By life itself. I love to just watch how people connect. How they feel. How they love. I love to see a mother cuddle and nurture her infant or a father explain why the sun rises and sets as they sit reflectively together. I love these tender and fleeting moments especially because as a mother of four children I know how it feels to do these things, to witness these things day in and day out. And while they seem so mundane to some they are so special to me.  They are the kind of things I try to capture on my sessions. A photo is so much more then just a photo. It gives me the opportunity to stop and relish one single special moment..well… forever. To look back and say WOW! That is what my child loved so much at this stage in their childhood. I can always look at any given photo at any given moment and remember fairly clearly what I was feeling in that moment or pretty close to it.  And I will have these VERY special keepsakes of my family to share with my grandchildren. That my grandchildren can share with their grandchildren. Photographers are VERY special individuals. They have a way of taking something seemingly SO ordinary and making it into something incredible. Something relished and something personal. As a matter of fact I can’t think of a better thing to do for my own children. To think they will have all these amazing mementos of their own childhood to treasure, including photos of both of their parents when I am long gone and just a memory makes my heart want to leap right out of my chest. I will have the ability to speak to my great grandchildren and great great grandchildren, even without words for decades and possibly centuries to come.

This is what I strive to do for others. To help them find their voice in their own photos. I pour all I am. All I have into each and every session. I realize I have no way of knowing where these families go when they leave me and our session is long gone but they have something very unique. Something filled with love and joy and undeniably them. It makes me really feel blessed to do what I do. And to be able to make a humble living as well. That is just a double plus.

So as a photographer, as an artist and as a person I challenge you to take a ton of photos. And if you are another photographer I challenge you even more to take less then perfect ones. I guarantee they will be the ones you love the most years to come. But find your mark and your place in this world and roll with it. Just don’t forget to stop and cherish life every step of the way. Pictures really are worth a thousand words!